'The Voice': What We Learned From Top 5 Eliminations

On Tuesday night, The Voice revealed the results of America’s fourth vote for Season 6, and narrowed down its Top 5 all to the Top 3 that will be contending for the title next week. Here are a few things that we took away from the results show, as you voted for the artists you wanted to see in the final round.

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t seen Tuesday’s live eliminations show yet, read no further, because we’re about to tell you exactly who got knocked out of the competition.

01) NBC really likes the Twitter Instant Save. Last season, when it came time to name the finalists, the social media vote went away. Not this time. For Season 6, Twitter – or at least the East Coast audience on Twitter – was allowed to determine the third finalist. We’re not going to argue with the choice, as Team Adam’s Christina Grimmie deserves to be in the finale, but we will argue with allowing an already questionable method of voting to be used at the most critical juncture. Maybe it’s because they needed to fill time in Tuesday’s show with Instant Save performances, but we’d rather that the finalists be determined the old-fashioned way, by America’s vote…all of America’s vote.

02) Shakira just can’t seem to catch a break. For the second season, the Colombian songstress is shut out of the finale, as Kristen Merlin did not advance. In fact, Shakira finishes exactly how she finished in Season 4: she brought one artist (Sasha Allen) to the Top 5 and had that artist knocked out when it came time to name the Top 3. Is Shakira still figuring things out as a coach, or has she just not had the talent to break through to the last level? Whatever it is, she now has a goal to set her eyes on should she return for Season 8 next spring.

03) This is still the most even playing field we’ve ever had. For the first time since The Voice went to a three-finalist setup, each of the remaining artists is from a different team: Team Adam (Christina Grimmie), Team Blake (Jake Worthington) and Team Usher (Josh Kaufman). That means Usher has another legitimate shot at ending Adam Levine and Blake Shelton’s stranglehold on The Voice championships – possibly the best he’s ever had since there’s no clear favorite amongst this pack the way Danielle Bradbery steamrolled the second half of Season 4. What do you think, America? Are you ready to see someone new hold up that trophy?

04) The right people made it to the finals in Season 5. As we mentioned last night, the trio of finalists from last cycle performed their new singles on Tuesday, and they showed us exactly why we all voted for them last fall. Incumbent champ Tessanne Chin performed “Everything Reminds Me Of You,” while runner-up Jacquie sang “Broken Ones” (just one word off from the title of Season 2 runner-up Dia Frampton’s first single, “The Broken Ones”), and third-place Will gave us “Eye of the Pyramid.” Strangely, Tessanne’s song is the only one that you can’t currently buy on iTunes.

05) Next week, we could make history (more history). Not that Blake Shelton needs another title to brag about, but if Jake Worthington wins, he will be the first returning artist to be named champion. He’s already the first second chance artist to make the finals. Imagine how trippy he must feel right now – unable to even get on the show last season and now one step away from winning the whole shebang. And that’s one of the great things about the show: that artists are not only allowed, but encouraged, to take the coaches’ constructive criticism and come back for another try.

The Voice finals air on Monday at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC, and a winner will be named on Tuesday at 8 PM ET/PT.

Photo Credit: NBC

‘The Voice’: What We Learned From Top 5 Eliminations

Responses